The Birth Story of Catalyst Ministries

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. — Isaiah 43:19

Anyone who has given birth to a child or witnessed the resurrection of what was thought dead knows that a divine holiness hovers over that defining moment. The world seems to stand still and hold its breath in wonder and anticipation for what that new life will hold. In 2014, that defining moment came for Catalyst Ministries when it was birthed out of prayer and baby steps of faithfulness. However, as in the birth of a child, the journey leading up to that moment is a story in itself.

Catalyst Ministries’ founder, Julie Ryan, surrendered her life to Christ at a youth conference at age eighteen because she knew she was looking for something. That something was Jesus, a Savior, who could fill up the empty places in her heart. Out of Julie’s birth into a restored relationship with her Creator, grew a hunger to know the Savior who had died and risen from the grave for her, before she had even breathed her first breath on this earth. Early on in her Christian walk, Julie felt drawn to sharing that hope through overseas missions and in ministering to women. 

Upon returning to Illinois after serving for a time in overseas missions, God directed Julie into mentoring, discipling, and leading women’s Bible studies and local support groups. Several years later, as Director of Women’s Ministries at a Bloomington church, God led Julie to become a catalyst in the birth of a homegrown ministry called “Single Moms’ Morning Out.” Julie learned firsthand from the single moms about the vulnerability of that population, and of the challenges that put them at greater risk for human trafficking. However, it was her work in international missions in parts of the world where women are notoriously marginalized and devalued, that Julie began sensing a nudge from God to start a local non-profit called Catalyst Ministries to help sex-trafficked women. 

“Catalyst is a science term and it emphasizes that we need something, or someone, to bring about change,” explains Julie. For each of us, Jesus is the Catalyst, whose blood, death, and sacrifice change everything.

Julie points out, “Even our best volunteers and counselors here at Catalyst Ministries can’t fix the deep wounds our residents carry … but Jesus can! Out of what Satan meant to use to destroy women’s lives, Jesus can birth hope, wholeness, and beauty.”

Julie continues, “As a mother and a woman, I am keenly aware of how the Enemy lies to women and girls about their identity. As a result, I have been passionate about women knowing the truth about their God-given value and worth. I have discovered that as I press deeper into the love God has for me, His love changes me and I become more and more like the person He created me to be.”

It was out of this passion that God fostered in Julie, that Catalyst Ministries has grown and blossomed into a local haven for women seeking to escape the trap of human trafficking. “Our main focus is on our local and domestic work in the United States,” says Julie, “but we value our international partnerships as well and the opportunities we have to build up indigenous leaders doing anti-trafficking work in these regions. We have taken teams to do field work in southeast Asia and the Middle East and to ‘wash these leaders’ feet’ by bringing encouragement, prayer and resources to them. God has called us to be His hands and feet abroad as well as to the women in our own community who need rescue.”

Like our Savior who was not passive toward us when we were voiceless and enslaved, you and I as followers of Christ are compelled to be the catalyst that Jesus activates to bring light and a way out to any woman who is imprisoned by not knowing her value and worth. We share the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection, so that the women at Catalyst Farms can experience deliverance into new life and hope.

Just as in childbirth though, change does not come easily or without help. The women served by Catalyst Ministries are ensnared in a cycle from which it is difficult to escape without support.  We want to encourage you to check out our prayer warrior sign-up page. Through prayer,  you can hold up the arms of the survivors at the Farms, our staff, and our volunteers like Moses’ friends held up his arms in the midst of the battle in Exodus 17:12-13. The work that Catalyst Ministries does is a spiritual battle in which we partner with God to bring about authentic and lasting change.

““Even our best volunteers and counselors here at Catalyst Ministries can’t fix the deep wounds our residents carry … but Jesus can! Out of what Satan meant to use to destroy women’s lives, Jesus can birth hope, wholeness, and beauty.””

The defining characteristic of a catalyst is that it never settles for the status quo. Change and new growth are a constant. Just as a baby grows and changes, Catalyst Ministries is expanding its outreach to include sex-trafficked women from the Texas region. Watch for updates on our new venture as we partner with God to restore the hope and future of upcoming generations of girls and women so that they are not enslaved and can experience the true meaning of resurrection, re-birth,  and new life.

—  Tonya

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly;

defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Proverbs 31:8-9